Well, I wanted to adjust my chain slack last weekend. Right now I'm hovering around 1-3/8" to 1.5". I was thinking of adjusting it closer to 1" - 1-1/8". Well, following the service manual, I went to loosen the rear axle nut on the rear right swingarm, and man, what a PITA! That thing would not budge at all. I had my bike on my rear stands, and as I was trying to loosen it, I was practically lifting up the entire rear end of the bike. Is that nut really that hard to remove? Or am I supposed to loosen the one on the left side (contrary to service manual)? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

I've had a similar problem with no solution, but a few suggestions:
Try pushing downward with the bike on the ground, so you can push hard without tipping it.
Try giving the wrench a few knocks instead of just pressure... easy knocks sometimes work better than pressure.

One question I had about this is: Will an impact wrench wreck the axle? Will it fit at all?

 

What's the spec on the slack? IIRC you are in the sweet spot now. Too tight and your shock travel is limited by the chain as well as accelerating sproket wear.

 

this is the worst part about doing work on any car or bike. stuck bolts suck. you can take a long section of pipe and fit it over your wrench so you can get more leverage. that way you don't have to jump up and down on it and knock your bike over. also, spray it with liquid wrench (stuff works great on rusted or corroded parts) and take a hammer or a plastic mallet and give it a few taps to see if you can get it to budge a little. as it turns it should work some of the lubricant down in there. if that doesn't work dry it off completely and try heating the BOLT ONLY very slightly with a blow torch on low and not in direct flame. the idea is to heat the nut up a little so it expands. it will tell you if they put lock tite on it too because you'll see it bubbling out of the joints... it's pretty much the only way i know of to take that stuff off. After that there's always impact guns if you have one available.

 

+1 on using a bar over the wrench. if you have a 5 foot pipe or so it will make it so you have to only put 1/5th the amount of strength in to break it loose. also, make sure you have the exact size socket before doing any major wrenching. you dont want to have it strip the corners of the nut, that would make your situation even worse.

 

Just get a breaker bar and a 27mm socket... problem solved Good idea to get a torque wrench too so you can tighten it to the proper torque.... 69 lb. ft.

As for adjusting the chain, remember the chain will tighten when you sit on the bike, and the chain is 'supposed' to be adjusted with weight on the bike. But that's damn near impossible to do when you're by yourself That means you want about 1.25 in freeplay while you're sitting on it. I always set mine at 1.5 inches and then when I sit on it it tightens up to just the right spot. Of course this may be different based on your weight... I'm 155 lbs. Remember, it's always better to have your chain a little too loose than having it too tight.. Too tight will tear the chain and sprockets up in no time and the chain will run very hot, plus you'll lose a noticable amount of power as well

 

mmmmmmmmmm breaker bar..... =)

And don't forget to hold the other side otherwise you'll just make the axel spin and you'll be stuck wondering why it is not getting any looser...... I know... errr my FRIEND knows from experience haha

 

When you get it close off the bike snug down the bolts and sit on the bike and yus your foot to feel the slack in the chain. I use a ruler and tape it on the swing arm and you can see how far it moves bay the oil marks on the ruler. that way you cvan get it correct with your weight on the bike. hope this helps.